Powerful Praying Series

A journalist assigned to the Jerusalem bureau took an apartment overlooking the Wailing Wall. Every day when she looked out, she saw an old Jewish man praying vigorously. So, the journalist went down and introduced herself to the old man.

She asks, “You come every day to the wall. How long have you done that, and what are you praying for?”

The old man replies, “I have come here to pray every day for 25 years. In the morning I pray for world peace and then for the brotherhood of man. I go home, have a cup of tea, and I come back and pray for the eradication of illness and disease from the earth.”

The journalist is amazed. “How does it make you feel to come here every day for 25 years and pray for these things?” she asks.

The old man looks at her sadly. “Like I'm talking to a wall” (“Wailing Wall,” Religious Joke of the Day, beliefnet.com, 4-25-03; www.PreachingToday.com).

Do you ever feel like you’re talking to a wall when you pray? Do you ever feel like your prayers don’t really do all that much? Do you ever feel like your prayers are useless and ineffective? Well, if you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to Matthew 6, Matthew 6, where Jesus describes the kind of praying God rewards. It’s powerful praying that gets results!

Mathew 6:5 And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. (ESV)

I.e., they have received payment in full. They’re not getting anything more than the brief recognition of others.

God doesn’t answer that kind of prayer, so don’t pray to put on a show. Don’t pray for the purpose of displaying your piety.

You see, in Jesus day, Jews prayed standing, with hands stretched out, palms upwards, and with heads bowed. And prayers had to be said at specific times in the morning and in the evening no matter where you were at the time. So those who wanted to demonstrate their piety made sure that they were at a busy street corner or on the top step in front of a synagogue at those times. Then they would raise their hands and pray long, showy prayers to impress the people that passed by (William Barclay, The Gospel of Matthew, Vol.1).

To be sure, that’s not the way a lot of people pray today, but I have heard a lot of prayers where it seemed like the person was trying to impress the audience rather than simply talk to God.

Now, don’t get me wrong. Jesus is not prohibiting all public praying, for He Himself offered public prayers. He did it before he fed the 5,000 with five loaves of bread and two fish (John 6:11). And He did it before He raised Lazarus from the dead (John 11:41-42).

No, it’s not wrong to pray in public. The Apostle Paul, in the context of the local church, said, “I desire that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling” (1 Timothy 1:8). So no, it is NOT wrong to pray in public, but it IS wrong to pray in public if you are not in the habit of praying in private. Otherwise, observers may think that you are more pious than you really are, and that is hypocrisy (Warren Wiersbe, Be Loyal)

A couple of years ago (2017), Nordstrom's website advertised a pair of mud-stained, “heavily distressed” jeans that (quote) “embody rugged, Americana workwear that's seen some hard-working action with a crackled, caked-on muddy coating that shows you're not afraid to get down and dirty” (close quote).

The jeans are even machine washable. According to the care instructions, they recommend machine washing in cold water and line drying. That way you don’t have to worry about ruining the rugged look. The price? Just a mere $425. (Aaron Smith, “Dirty Jeans for Sale: $425,” CNN: Money, 4-25-17; www.Preaching Today.com)

Now, isn’t that ridiculous? Some rich, city guy is going to pay $425 for a dirty pair of jeans just to look like a regular guy who works on the farm.

Ridiculous! But no more ridiculous than the person who puts on a show of piety without actually having any kind of private prayer life. They may get the accolades of the people who see them, but they will not get any answers from God Himself. So if you want your prayers to get results, don’t pray to put on a show.

Instead, have a private prayer life. Pray in the secret places where nobody sees you. Look at what Jesus says in verse 6.